Browns' Rubin is a force in the middle

As the Shaun Rogers Watch enters its fifth week with no date for his return to the practice field in the immediate forecast, Coach Eric Mangini is more than content with Ahtyba Rubin anchoring the defensive line at nose tackle while Rogers heals from a broken ankle.

Rubin, 6-foot-2, 330 pounds, just keeps getting better. He was drafted in the sixth round in 2008, pick 190 overall. It was the same year the Browns traded a third-round pick and cornerback Leigh Bodden to the Lions for Rogers.

"Rubin can be a good, long-term starting nose," Mangini said recently. "He is stout, he plays with good technique and he has a high motor. Sometimes you lose track of a motor-guy that big; he's running all of the time. He may not pop off of the screen, but he's running. I like him. I like his growth. I like his professionalism."

Rogers got out of playing in the preseason last year with a foot injury. He was on the Physically Unable to Perform list when the 2010 training camp started July 31, and there is no guarantee he will be ready for the start of the regular season.

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The Browns found out last December they can win without Rogers. He missed the final five games with the ankle injury keeping him out now. The Browns won four of those games with Rubin at nose tackle.

The Browns defense is under the microscope because opponents have had success against the starters in each of the first three preseason games. The mistakes certainly are not all on Rubin, particularly the number showing starting quarterbacks have completed 30 of 36 passes against them.

"I'm trying to hold down the job until Shaun gets back," Rubin said Monday before practice. "Last year showed me I can play in this league and help our team get a win. It did a lot to boost by confidence. Hopefully I can keep it up."

Former general manager Phil Savage has been criticized roundly for trading a second-round pick and a future first-round pick in 2007 to draft Brady Quinn and for some other misses, such as quarterback Charlie Frye in the third round in 2005 and third-round wide receiver Travis Wilson in 2006. Passing on defensive lineman Haloti Ngata to draft Kamerion Wimbley in 2006 has been scrutinized, too.

Savage also hit on some late picks -- running back Jerome Harrison in the fifth round in 2006, fullback Lawrence Vickers in the sixth round in 2006 and Rubin two years later.

Mangini was with the Jets when the Browns drafted Rubin. He could not remember where the Jets ranked Rubin on their draft board, but he joked about Rubin being ranked high and out of the Jets' reach.

"(The draft) is an inexact science," Mangini said. "Everybody tries to make it a science, but it's human beings and you don't know. Time, money, more responsibility, how is it all going to affect a 22-23 year old kid? How does (Josh) Cribbs become Cribbs?"

Cribbs was another Savage find. The Browns special teams star (and blossoming offensive star) wasn't even drafted. He made the Browns as a rookie free agent in 2005.

"It was disappointed to get picked so late," Rubin admitted. "Everybody just wants the chance to get into the league for a chance to compete.

"Last year I went out and practiced hard every day to show Mangini I should be here. It's the same this year and hopefully years after that."

Nose tackles will never be at the top of any statistical chart.

Rubin totaled 14 tackles in the five games he started. He had 24 subbing for Rogers in the first 11 games.

The Browns recorded 17 of their 40 sacks in the five games Rubin started.

The run defense improved statistically with Rubin on the nose. Opponents rushed for 125 yards or more in 10 of the 11 games Rogers started. They averaged 159.9 yards a game. They averaged 110.6 yards rushing in the five games Rubin started.

"He is very good with his hands and hand placement inside the center's chest," Mangini said. "He's gotten better shedding the blocker and being more patient with shedding. If the running back is starting to your right and you throw off the blocker too early and go to your right, the runner will cut back to the void you create."

Rubin said he has learned the last couple years by watching Rogers, Robaire Smith, Kenyon Coleman and C.J. Mosley.

Mosley, like Rogers, is on the P.U.P. list and has not practiced this summer.